The invocation was somewhat of a coming-out for Mendez, who, along with members of the Secular Coalition for Arizona, pointed out a recent Pew Research Center study that found nearly one-in-five Americans is not affiliated with any religion.

"I hope today marks the beginning of a new era in which Arizona's non believers can feel as welcome and valued here as believers," Mendez later said.

Without a doubt, there are several, if not many, elected non-believers across the country, but Mendez may be the only one (so far) who has had the guts to say something about it.